Exciting times at DG Unlimited! We are delighted to announce that DGU has been awarded £50,000 from Creative Scotland, the national body for the arts, for our new one-year project “Creatives Unlimited”. The project aims to enhance the sustainability and resilience of the region’s creative leaders and practitioners.

Dumfries and Galloway has a long-acknowledged vibrant and talented creative community and Creatives Unlimited has been designed to ensure it supports and connects individuals and organisations working across all art-forms.
The project will begin in August with the launch of a fund - Innovate Create Cultivate - to support creative practitioners professional development, and over the coming months a region-wide programme of support, training, mentoring and guidance offering a wide range of networking events will be implemented. The programme will help Dumfries and Galloway’s artistic community to grow, learn new skills, consolidate strengths and explore ambitious and innovative ways of working.

Cathy Agnew, our Chair, said “I am thrilled that Creative Scotland appreciates the important contribution that Dumfries and Galloway’s artists, creative practitioners and organisations already make to their communities and the region’s economy, but importantly, has also recognised the future potential waiting to be realised.”

And she added “In making this award, Creative Scotland has shown incredible support for our vision to grow Dumfries and Galloway’s creative community. This vision is not just to benefit the region’s artists, but will also widen the impact and reach of the arts and creativity for everyone to enjoy and benefit from”.

** CALLING ALL YOUR HEROES: CULTURE CHAMPION **
Who would you like to see crowned Culture Champion 2019 in the 10th anniversary Dumfries & Galloway Life Awards? This award, proudly sponsored by DG Unlimited, is for creative artists and workers in creative, cultural or leisure businesses or organisations in Dumfries & Galloway. You can nominate or enter by clicking the link here and the closing date is August 11.

Stuart Macpherson, musician and sonic artist's  "Solway to Svalbard" project is a creative response to the spring migration of the Barnacle Goose from the wetlands of the Solway Firth in South West Scotland to the Islands of Svalbard in the Arctic Circle. Stuart said "Receiving support from the Open Project Fund gives the project a massive boost, as this will be the third and final research residency of the project it represents the furthest extent of the migration and is of considerable significance for the narrative of the project. The first hand experience of the environment and the personal insights of the those connected will be invaluable."

The 40th Anniversary of Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival, which took place for ten days over the end of May, has successfully attracted new and diverse audiences who enjoyed 50 events across 34 venues region-wide.

A full report will become available in July but early evidence suggests an approximate 9% increase in ticket sales on last year, with audiences deeming the events to be of a high quality and many stating it was their first time attending the region’s arts festival.

Read more from DG Arts Festival...

Two of Scotland’s best-loved cultural events are joining forces to promote Dumfries and Galloway as a centre of high-quality contemporary arts.

In May and June this year Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival and Spring Fling open studios will be offering around 200 opportunities to enjoy a huge variety visual art and craft plus high quality live performances.

They have teamed up in a campaign to capitalise on their position in Scotland’s cultural calendar by producing joint visitor information with a fold-out map displaying locations for this year’s activity. The map, which will also be available online, shows where people can find 94 studios as well as afternoon and evening performances of award-winning live performances taking place at venues throughout the region. Spring Fling studio visitors will be able to meet professional artists and makers who create high quality ceramics, furniture, glassware, jewellery, painting, printmaking and textiles.

The festival’s live performances, which take place at theatres, village and town halls, arts centres and pubs, offer the best of comedy, dance, theatre, music and spoken word.

The 40th annual D&G Arts Festival has 50 performances over 10 days from 24 May to 2 June while the main Spring Fling open studios weekend takes place between 25 and 27 May. There will also be more than 15 workshops and master-classes, evening events and public art.

The arts festival presents events in venues across the region and Spring Fling artists can be found in studios throughout Dumfries and Galloway. Among the highlights will be Lucy Porter with her award-winning show Pass it On and folk legends Martin and Eliza Carthy.

 For further details on Spring Fling please visit www.spring-fling.co.uk

For the Arts Festival programme visit www.dgartsfestival.org.uk.

Thornhill-based Cample Line join 40 artists, dancers, choreographers, musicians, writers, theatre makers, festivals and organisations to receive a share over £850,000 National Lottery funds in the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Project funding awards.

The independent arts organisation is dedicated to presenting thought-provoking international contemporary art and film for both local residents and visitors. It plans to use the funding award to present a thought-provoking programme of international contemporary art and film, and artist-run space.

Find out more from Creative Scotland.

BIG LIT, the Stewartry Book Festival, takes place this year from 1st to 5th May, with five bumper days of poetry, launches, prose, talks, film, puppets, history, workshop, buskers, song, installation, exhibition, politics, music and cabaret. There's also a children’s programme of magical time travel and folk tales.

Among this year's guests are:

• Ted Powell, on Edward VIII’s love affair with America,
• Henry Bell, on John Mclean, Hero of Red Clydeside
• Rosemary Goring, on Scotland's history by the women who lived it
• Alan Taylor on his friendship with Muriel Spark
• BBC Health Editor Hugh Pym on the Scots in Great War London
• Internationally acclaimed harper Wendy Stewart, on the history of the Scottish clarsach

and many, many more.

Events will be held in Gatehouse of Fleet and Kirkcudbright.

Full programme details available online.

Contact Big Lit for tickets or call Galloway Lodge on 01557 814001, open daily  from 10am to 5pm.

Wigtown Festival Company was crowned the winner of the Innovation in Tourism award at the Scottish Thistle Awards National Final on 14th March.

Wigtown Festival Company, responsible for transforming Wigtown into Scotland’s National Book Town, was named best in the business at Scotland’s biggest awards night in tourism.

Read more  from DGWGO.